Thursday, December 31, 2009

i think partially because i drank coffee (which i rarely do) at around 4:00 yesterday, i couldn't fall asleep last night. so i lay awake thinking about how fabulous general store is. general store is a lovely shop across town from me, right by the ocean. it is next to the aptly named trouble coffee shop. a tiny strip of awesomeness has opened in the outer sunset, which as far as i know, is relatively devoid of awesome stores. jen and bob and i went to general store for the first time yesterday.

i couldn't totally focus on the wares in the store because i was completely enamored with the store owner's dog, macie! part dog, part fox. look at her bushy fox tail. i have mentioned before which dogs i am particularly a sucker for. well add to the top of the list: very soft part dog, part fox dogs.

in addition to the macie distraction, i was also distracted/lulled by the cozy atmosphere and unintimidating vibe of the place. i kind of just wanted to live there. the freshly cut wood scent had its aromatherapy effect on me. (smelled a bit like my dad's garage where he did/does carpentry projects.) the store feels scandinavian to me, with the white walls and light wood. it is clean and spare, though there are many treasures to be found in various boxes. the store design also seems to have some other influences as well—a skater/surfer/california one, a modern art/design one, a DIY crafter/reuse one, a 70's one.

serena, the very nice co-owner, who was at the store, is an SF artist who has a gorgeous blog as well. you can see much better, non-blurry photos of the store there.

even though getting to general store is quite a commute for me, i know i will go out there again in 2010 to visit that foxy macie, to get a better look at the goodies being sold and to see the greenhouse they plan to open in the back yard!

Saturday, December 05, 2009

decorated our flat last night, and this morning i went for a quick visit to the annual swedish holiday fair here in sf. now i feel quite festive and cozy. sometimes the whole camera thing gets annoying though. these little kids are all processing down the aisle to the stage singing lucia songs, and flashes are going off like a lightening storm. parents videotaping in the aisle. not that i didn't also take pictures, but sometimes i miss the old days when we weren't all paparazzi. lucia is all about the candles in saint lucia's hair lighting the dark winter night and about the singing (and the cookies). so it kind of ruins the mood when flashes go off every other second. so much for darkness and ambiance. still, it was nice to hear the swedish holiday songs and have a splash of glögg.

Friday, December 04, 2009

the 5-week botanical illustration class i was taking is over. here are a few paintings from it. now that the class is over, i may not continue to paint flowers quite so persnickety-ly. it is relaxing and satisfying to try to paint "scientifically" (and i actually wanted to learn more about flower parts, identification and pollination), but i usually prefer to look at paintings that are more loose/interpretive/expressive. though i noticed in class that even though people were trying to paint/draw the flowers realistically, everyone still had distinct ways of painting/drawing. reality is shifty. and everyone's hands move differently.

our class went to the botanical garden in golden gate park one day. the garden's sf public library branch had beautiful botanical illustrations by kristin jakob on display. her work is precise and delicate and much more beautiful in person. i was struck by her compositions which i imagine she must carefully determine because there is both tension and balance in them and to such a pleasing result. (my favorite from the exhibit—fern fronds in various stages of life/decay—is not on her site.)

i saw where the wild things are finally last night and liked it so much more than i expected i would. really liked it. it was both more and less sad then i thought it would be.